Earl of Essex’s Regiment of Foot

Flag Illustration	1)
Active	1642-1645
Country	England
Allegiance	Parliamentarian
Conflicts	First Civil War
Type	Foot
Colonel	Earl of Essex
Area Raised
Coat Colour	Tawney Orange
Flag Colour	Orange
Flag Design	White stars
Field Armies	Essex 1642-1645

Also known as the Lord General’s Regiment of foot and Old Robin's foot

Parliamentarian Regiment of Foot raised by the Earl of Essex that served on his campaigns throughout the First Civil War

• 23rd September: Battle of Edgehill
• 13th November: Standoff at Turnham Green
• December: Taking of Marlow?

• 13th - 27th April: Siege of Reading
• April: Battle of Caversham Bridge
• 20th September: First Battle of Newbury
• November: Battle of Olney

• January: Standoff at Aylesbury (det)?
• July: Battle of Horsebridge
• August: Battle of Lostwithiel
• October: Second Battle of Newbury

• January: Defence of Abingdon (det)?
• April: Disbanded and drafted into Sir Thomas Fairfax’s Regiment of Foot, the General's Regiment of the New Model Army. The last remaining 60 men of the regiment were then reduced into Major General Richard Browne’s Regiment of Foot.

Essex's regiment wore orange tawney coats from September 1642 until re-clothed in an unknown colour in August 1643. In November 1644 Essex's regiment received new flags to replace those lost in Cornwall, these were orange with white mullets (five-pointed stars). After the First Battle of Newbury a set of orange colours with white eight-pointed stars (Illustration 1) was captured by the Royalists, that might have belonged to Essex's but this is uncertain ²⁾. It should be noted that Capt Saunderson's Company that joined the Regiment in December 1642 had been previously issued with Watchet coloured coats and a flag of presumably different design to the rest of the Regiment.

Although three of the Companies (Tyndall, Devereux and Turner's) are described as firelocks, it is possible they were only armed with bastard (i.e. lighter) muskets. As the numbers equate to the 300 bastard muskets issued to the regiment from the Tower stores and received by Tyndall 03/09/42. (N.A. WO55/1937)

Earl of Essex (1591-1646)

• Earl of Essex (Company commanded throughout the war by Captain Lt Thomas Bushell)
• Lieutenant Colonel William Davies (Left Regt in June 1643. In May 1644 took over Col James Holborne's regt)
• Major John Bampfield
• Captain Sir Anthony St John
• Captain Christopher Mathews (given as Mathias in “The List of the Army” so possibly a foreign professional)
• Captain John Skrimpshire
• Captain Thomas Skinner
• Captain Roger Bettridge
• Captain Thomas Ward (Still in existence March 1643)
• Captain Edward Leventhorp (Still in existence March 1643)
• Captain Robert Turner (Firelocks. Refered to in the past tense in May 1643 when the Company were decribed as Dragoons)
• Captain Ambrose Tyndall (Firelocks)
• Captain Nicholas Devereux (Firelocks)

(The 3 Firelock Companies were detached on the 18th October 1642 to become part of Col. John Middleton's Regiment of Dragoons. Turner's Company were again mustered as part of the Regt on 21st November 1642. Tyndall returned to the regiment on the 22nd December taking over Captain John Skrimpshire's Company)

• Captain John Smith (Joined Regt in November 1642. Last known paydate June 1643 dead by December)

• Earl of Essex
• Lieutenant Colonel John Bampfeild
• Major John Boteler (Major 01/06/43 - 21/09/43)
• Captain Christopher Mathews
• Captain Anthony St John
• Captain Anthony Saunderson (First mentioned as part of Essex's Regt in December 1642 but had been in existence as a “free company” since the end of August. They had been issued with coats of watchet (pale blue) lined white and with a company ensign which would also not have matched the rest of the regiment)
• Captain John Huson (Joined Regt in November 1642. Called Henry in one document)
• Captain Ambrose Tyndall (Left regiment 16/04/44 to become Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel Rowland Laugharne)
• Captain Francis Hudson (Joined Regt 21/06/43)³⁾
• Captain Mathew Scaltrick (Joined Regt in November 1642)
• Captain Isack Turvey (Took over Ward's company of which he had been Lieutenant 18/05/43)
• Captain John Lloyd (Captain by 30/05/43 possibly having taken over Robert Turner's Company (based on shared Lt). Lloyd had been Ensign of Essex's own Company in 1642)
• Captain Henry Gawler (Joined Regt in November 1642, although another document claims his commission dated to 04/02/43)
• Captain Robert Billingsley (raised for Thompson's regt but seems to have served with Essex's own regt. In Aug 43 he was described as “Captaine of a Company in the Regiment of Collonel Francis Tomsons (and now marching wth my owne Regiment)” In his claim for wages he says he served under Essex 27/05/43 - 26/04/44 and then as Capt of Foot to Coll Thomson 10/05/44 - 17/12/44)

• Earl of Essex
• Lieutenant Colonel John Botteler (Lieutenant colonel 21/09/43 - 05/04/45)
• Major Christopher Mathews
• Captain Sr Anthony St John
• Captain John Lloyd
• Captain Henry Gawler (Killed at Second battle of Newbury)
• Captain Anthony Sanderson
• Captain Francis Hudson (died in service 19/09/44)⁴⁾
• Captain Isack Turvey
• Captain John Horsey
• Captain ffoulke Muskett (Had been Lt to Major Bampfield in 1642)
• Captain Warwick Bampfield (Had been a junior officer in the Regt since at least August 1643 possibly under Lt Col Bampfield)

• Lieutenant Colonel Brown (Commanded Regiment for a short period in August/September 1644 while Botteler was a prisoner. Possibly Thomas Browne formerly of Ballard's/Martyn's regt)

• Earl of Essex
• Lieutenant Colonel John Botteler
• Major Christopher Mathews
• Captain John Lloyd
• Captain Laurence Phipps (had been Lt to Lt Col Butler in 1643)
• Captain Lecester Burdett (In the Regt by December 1644)
• Captain Sr Anthony St John
• Captain Isaack Turvey
• Captain ffoulke Muskett (NMA Fairfax's Regt)
• Captain John Horsey (NMA Rainsborough's Regt)
• Captaine Andrew Ward (Had been Ensign to Captain Thomas Ward in 1642. Commissioned Captain 10/10/44) (NMA Ingoldsby's Regt)
• Captain Warwick Bampfield (Intended as a Capt Ingoldsby's Regt but objected to by the Lords for unkown reasons and did not serve)

• March 1644: 12 companies, intended to be 1500 men
• October 1642: 934 rank and file⁵⁾

• Col. John Middleton's Regiment of Dragoons

The Earl or Essex's Foot are re-enacted by the Earl of Essex Regiment of the English Civil War Society, the Lord General's Regiment of the Sealed Knot and by the Earl of Essex's Regiment of Foot of the English Civil War Society of America.